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1

Hey

I’m just after some success stories to help me feel a bit more at ease

This whole nightmare started 2 weeks ago when I found out I was pregnant, told to go straight to A&E as I had bleeding for 3 weeks at this point, the following day had bloods and a scan multiple other appointments over the next week and 10 long days later the pregnancy was confirmed ectopic

I had methotrexate 4 days ago and whilst I know it’s expected HCG can rise at this point but I just feel so deflated

My bloods have always remained around the 200 mark and rose to 253 on day 4 after MTX and I know these are relatively low numbers but I feel like I’m constantly waiting for the next set of bloods to hopefully get some positive news and it never seems to be positive at the moment

Wondering if anyone else has a similar story to help me feel a bit more at ease and normal about this whole thing I am so emotionally exhausted at this point

2

Dear Elizabeth,

I am so sorry to hear of your ectopic pregnancy loss, it can be extremely overwhelming and you have friends here who understand.

Following methotrexate, the hCG level often rises on the day four blood test because the action of methotrexate is not instantaneous, so the cells will have continued to divide for two or three days after the injection was given, and some cells release more hCG when they start to disappear. Your doctors are looking to see a drop in your hCG value of at least 15% between days four and seven. If there has not been a 15% drop, this is when the doctors will consider a second dose of methotrexate or surgery.

I know it can feel like a long drawn out process but methotrexate is used as it isn’t as invasive as surgery.

I too bad methotrexate, my hCG levels rose on day 4 and then slowly declined over a number of weeks. I cannot be more precise of levels and how long it took for me as it was 14years ago and my memory is a little hazy. I went on to have 2 successful pregnancies, so.I hope this gives you some hope.

We have more information on our website about methotrexate treatment, how to help the medication work, what not to do and when to seek additional medical advice, which I have posted here

https://ectopic.org.uk/treating-an-ecto … thotrexate

Do not hesitate to lean on us for as long as you need,

Sending much love,

Karen x

The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust

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3

I’m so sorry to hear this has happened to you.

My numbers were always quite low too. They were 500 at 6 weeks pregnant when I first found out, had methotrexate which was unsuccessful the first dose. Levels rose to 800 by day 7. I had a second dose a few days later and by then levels dropped to 300ish. It still took 3-4 weeks for them to reach 0. It’s an absolute nightmare waiting for that drop.

But it happens :slight_smile:

I’m now 19 weeks pregnant with a successful pregnancy so far :slight_smile: I got pregnant 3 months after my ectopic. Sending love and strength xxxx

4

I had spotting for a couple weeks before being monitored and I was in and out getting bloods and I assumed I had a miscarriage but turns out it was ectopic. I was distraught because I didn’t think it would ever happen (naively).

I had been called into hospital after a set of bloods shown a 33% rise and was confirmed ectopic on my right ovary and I had to make a decision there and then for surgery or methotrexate. I opted for methotrexate not realising what would be the slowest few weeks I had experienced! Every night I was worried to go sleep incase of rupture, every pain etc.

After my day 7 bloods I started to feel bit more confident with what to look out for but kept reading about it being dragged out for a couple months and dreading every blood result just wanting my life back without worrying.

Day of methotrexate my levels were 2200

Day 4 they rose to 3200 (started to panic)

Day 7 went down to 2800ish so just scraped the 15%

Day 14 I went all way down to 300!!

Day 21 I was discharged as they went to below 10

Fingers crossed you have similar! Just hang in there they just kept telling me as long as pain isn’t worse than before I started the injection it was ok (I had really bad pelvic pressure and felt like I was walking like I was 9 months pregnant)

I’m not at the stage to get pregnant again yet as I was only discharged last week but I’m hopeful!

Good luck!